Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Jingjiang Xu, Xing Yuan, Yanping Huang, Jia Qin, Gongpu Lan, Haixia Qiu, Bo Yu, Haibo Jia, Haishu Tan, Shiyong Zhao, Zhongwu Feng, Lin An, Xunbin Wei
Summary: This study aims to improve the quality of dermatological optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) images by developing a robust deep learning method and creating proper datasets. A swept-source skin OCTA system was used to generate low-quality and high-quality images. The proposed vascular visualization enhancement generative adversarial network model, along with an optimized data augmentation strategy and perceptual content loss function, achieved better image enhancement effect with limited training data. The superiority of the proposed method in skin OCTA image enhancement was demonstrated through quantitative and qualitative comparisons.
JOURNAL OF BIOPHOTONICS
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Chaohui Zhang, Yuxin Li, Jiaheng Cao, Beibei Yu, Kaiyue Zhang, Ke Li, Xinhui Xu, Zhikun Guo, Yinming Liang, Xiao Yang, Zhongzhou Yang, Yunfu Sun, Vesa Kaartinen, Keyue Ding, Jikui Wang
Summary: The study reveals that Smoothened-mediated hedgehog signaling controls posterior cardiac progenitor commitment, suggesting that Smoothened mutation may be involved in the etiology of congenital heart diseases related to the cardiac conduction system and heart valves.
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Kazuhiro Kurokawa, James A. Crowell, Nhan Do, John J. Lee, Donald T. Miller
Summary: The study focuses on removing eye-movement artifacts from AO-OCT data efficiently, improving image quality, and enhancing visualization of retinal cellular features. The developed registration method allows for correcting eye motion at the level of individual A-lines, significantly improving the accuracy and robustness of image registration.
JOURNAL OF BIOMEDICAL OPTICS
(2021)
Review
Biochemical Research Methods
Vania B. Silva, Danilo Andrade De Jesus, Stefan Klein, Theo van Walsum, Joao Cardoso, Luisa Sanchez Brea, Pedro G. Vaz
Summary: This study provides a comprehensive overview of the methods developed for retrieving speckle information in biomedical OCT applications. The results show that features retrieved from speckle can be successfully used in different applications, such as classification and segmentation. However, the best approach for speckle analysis varies between applications. Further research is needed to validate the applicability and reproducibility of signal-carrying speckle analysis in a clinical context.
JOURNAL OF BIOMEDICAL OPTICS
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Xing Yuan, Yanping Huang, Lin An, Jia Qin, Gongpu Lan, Haixia Qiu, Bo Yu, Haibo Jia, Shangjie Ren, Haishu Tan, Jingjiang Xu
Summary: The study introduces a deep-learning-based approach named SAR-GAN to enhance the image quality of wide-field retinal OCTA. By utilizing high and low-resolution OCTA images in training, the network is capable of reconstructing improved super-resolution images with better visualization, noise intensity, contrast-to-noise ratio, and vessel connectivity. The SAR-GAN demonstrates superior image enhancement for both small and large FOVs compared to traditional and other deep-learning methods, showing great potential for clinical assessment improvement with wide-field OCTA.
BIOMEDICAL SIGNAL PROCESSING AND CONTROL
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Hongbo Fu, Yang Liu, Weijian Gao, Yintao Lan, Fangyu Zhong, Mengmeng Cheng, Jian Zhang
Summary: This study introduces a new method based on optical coherent tomography to measure high refractive index materials with irregular shapes. By adopting a well-organized sequence of image fusion, thresholding, boundary extraction, and Hough transform, the critical parameter for calculating refractive index, optical path length, can be extracted from OCT images. Glass and diamond samples were used to validate the effectiveness of this method, and the measurement results showed reasonable consistency with the standard values. The introduced method has the potential to enhance the automation and intelligence level of current research and holds promising application prospects in industrial fields such as optical glass, jewelry, and mineral substances.
Article
Optics
Hongbo Fu, Weijian Gao, Zixin Lin, Zhemin Zeng, Wen Shi, Jian Zhang
Summary: This paper proposes a real-time measurement method of liquid refractive index (RI) based on optical coherence tomography (OCT), which does not require direct contact with liquids. The method is validated by experiments on measuring the RI of sucrose liquids with gradient concentration and predicting sucrose concentration based on real-time measured RI. It indicates great potential for application in the industry and scientific research.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Lu Ren, Raghavender R. Gopireddy, Guy Perkins, Hao Zhang, Valeriy Timofeyev, Yankun Lyu, Daphne A. Diloretto, Pauline Trinh, Padmini Sirish, James L. Overton, Wilson Xu, Nathan Grainger, Yang K. Xiang, Elena N. Dedkova, Xiao-Dong Zhang, Ebenezer N. Yamoah, Manuel F. Navedo, Phung N. Thai, Nipavan Chiamvimonvat
Summary: SAN dysfunction in heart failure (HF) is well documented, but the underlying mechanisms are not completely understood. This study demonstrates that alterations in the mitochondria-SR microdomains contribute to SAN dysfunction in HF, providing insights into the role of mitochondria-SR microdomains in SAN automaticity and potential therapeutic targets for HF patients.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
David Prangel, Michelle Prasuhn, Felix Rommel, Salvatore Grisanti, Mahdy Ranjbar
Summary: This study assessed the comparability, reliability, and ability of commonly used automated thresholding algorithms in calculating vessel density in the retina and choriocapillaris layers. The results showed significant differences in estimated vessel densities for the algorithms, as well as variations in their reliability and ability to discriminate between physiological and pathological conditions.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Rajendran Soundararajan, Ting-Wei Hsu, Yanding Qin, Sheng-Lung Huang
Summary: By using homemade active crystalline fibers, researchers have developed bright and broadband light sources for full-field optical coherence tomography. These sources offer high-resolution imaging with deep penetration into skin tissues, potentially useful in biomedicine. Additionally, a feedforward compensation approach has been successful in greatly reducing hysteresis nonlinearity in the piezoelectric transducer, enabling accurate extraction of depth-dependent spectra.
JOURNAL OF BIOPHOTONICS
(2022)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Maryam Mehdizadeh, Cara MacNish, Di Xiao, David Alonso-Caneiro, Jason Kugelman, Mohammed Bennamoun
Summary: The study investigated the use of deep features to denoise OCT images, finding that deep feature loss outperformed traditional loss methods in terms of perceptual sharpness.
JOURNAL OF BIOMEDICAL OPTICS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Urban Simoncic, Matija Milanic
Summary: Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCTA) is a revolutionary non-invasive, high-resolution imaging technique for blood vessels. This study presents the TAR-TES algorithm, which effectively removes tail artifacts in the OCTA images through a physics-based approach. Comparative evaluations show that TAR-TES excels in eliminating these tail artifacts while preserving the integrity of vasculature images. Therefore, TAR-TES emerges as a powerful tool for enhancing OCTA image quality and reliability in both clinical and research settings.
Article
Computer Science, Interdisciplinary Applications
I. P. Okuwobi, Z. Ding, J. Wan, S. Ding
Summary: Speckle noise reduces image contrast, limiting the usage of optical coherence tomography (OCT) images. This study proposes a fast and robust image enhancement framework using non-linear statistical parametric technique, improving the interpretability and perception of OCT images. Experimental results demonstrate its effectiveness in providing both quantitative and qualitative information.
MEDICAL & BIOLOGICAL ENGINEERING & COMPUTING
(2022)
Article
Ophthalmology
Serena Fragiotta, Eliana Costanzo, Fabiana Picconi, Paola Giorno, Daniele De Geronimo, Daniela Giannini, Simona Frontoni, Monica Varano, Mariacristina Parravano
Summary: This study assessed the predictors of microvasculature and photoreceptor changes in type 1 diabetes mellitus patients over a 4-year follow-up. The study found that the perfusion density in the superficial capillary plexus and deep capillary plexus changed over time, with different influencing factors. Additionally, the study revealed the relationship between microvascular changes and photoreceptor integrity in diabetic patients.
INVESTIGATIVE OPHTHALMOLOGY & VISUAL SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Computer Science, Information Systems
Abdel-Razzak M. Al-Hinnawi, Ahmed BaniMustafa, Motasem Al-Latayfeh, Mitra Tavakoli
Summary: A Computerized Medical Image Processing (CMIP) method is proposed to address the challenges in optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA), including observing macula vasculature with natural curvature, generating OCTA frames at successive small depths in all macula layers, and enhancing visibility of blood vessels below outer retina. The proposed method involving image preprocessing, reconstruction, and enhancement stages improves the presentation of macula vasculature and enables tracking the 3D propagation of blood vessels. It also enhances the display of blood vessels at all macula depths, including deep choroid layers, providing advantages for precise inspection of macula disorders.
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Gregory B. Sands, Jesse L. Ashton, Mark L. Trew, David Baddeley, Richard D. Walton, David Benoist, Igor R. Efimov, Nicolas P. Smith, Olivier Bernus, Bruce H. Smaill
Summary: Recent developments in clearing and microscopy have enabled 3D imaging of whole organs at cellular resolution, but applying this to the human heart presents challenges in scale and complexity. Efficient clearing and labeling of heart tissue, fast microscopic imaging of human-scale samples, handling large 3D image data, and extracting structural information are key issues to address.
PROGRESS IN BIOPHYSICS & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Cell Biology
Qingqing Gu, Fuyi Xu, Buyan-Ochir Orgil, Zaza Khuchua, Undral Munkhsaikhan, Jason N. Johnson, Neely R. Alberson, Joseph F. Pierre, Dennis D. Black, Deli Dong, Jaclyn A. Brennan, Brianna M. Cathey, Igor R. Efimov, Jeffrey A. Towbin, Enkhsaikhan Purevjav, Lu Lu
Summary: This study investigates the biological roles of TMEM43 in cardiac and metabolism-related pathways, as well as its association with other diseases, through genetic regulation, gene pathways, and gene networks.
PHYSIOLOGICAL GENOMICS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Shubham Patel, Faheem Ershad, Jimmy Lee, Lourdes Chacon-Alberty, Yifan Wang, Marco A. Morales-Garza, Arturo Haces-Garcia, Seonmin Jang, Lei Gonzalez, Luis Contreras, Aman Agarwal, Zhoulyu Rao, Grace Liu, Igor R. Efimov, Yu Shrike Zhang, Min Zhao, Roslyn Rivkah Isseroff, Alamgir Karim, Abdelmotagaly Elgalad, Weihang Zhu, Xiaoyang Wu, Cunjiang Yu
Summary: This article presents a novel, fully biocompatible electronics fabricated on the skin for multiple cell types and tissues, which can capture electrophysiological signals with high fidelity and has improved mechanical and electrical properties. The drawn-on-skin ink shows excellent biocompatibility and holds potential for personalized, long-term, and accurate electrophysiological health monitoring.
Article
Medicine, Research & Experimental
Ching Zhu, Pradeep S. Rajendran, Peter Hanna, Igor R. Efimov, Guy Salama, Charless C. Fowlkes, Kalyanam Shivkumar
Summary: This study used a high-resolution pipeline and computer vision algorithms to investigate microstructural changes on the heart after myocardial infarction (MI) and their association with electrical dysfunction. The results established clear structure-function relationships and identified potential neural substrates for cardiac arrhythmia after MI, providing a framework for understanding arrhythmogenic mechanisms with microscopic precision.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Istvan Koncz, Arie O. Verkerk, Michele Nicastro, Ronald Wilders, Tamas Arpadffy-Lovas, Tibor Magyar, Noemi Toth, Norbert Nagy, Micah Madrid, Zexu Lin, Igor R. Efimov
Summary: The study found that ACh can influence the repolarization in human ventricular cardiomyocytes by affecting I-Kr, leading to prolonged action potential duration.
Article
Optics
Rohan Bareja, Diana Mojahed, Hanina Hibshoosh, Christine Hendon
Summary: This article presents a customized deep convolutional neural network (CNN) for the classification of breast tissues in optical coherence tomography (OCT) scans, achieving high accuracy and specificity in breast cancer diagnostics.
Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Kedar Aras, Anna Gams, Ndeye Rokhaya Faye, Jaclyn Brennan, Katherine Goldrick, Jinghua Li, Yishan Zhong, Chia-Han Chiang, Elizabeth H. Smith, Megan D. Poston, Jacqueline Chivers, Peter Hanna, Shumpei Mori, Olujimi A. Ajijola, Kalyanam Shivkumar, Donald B. Hoover, Jonathan Viventi, John A. Rogers, Olivier Bernus, Igor R. Efimov
Summary: The electrophysiology of human right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) is characterized by shorter action potential duration and the arrhythmogenic effects of adrenergic stimulation can be attenuated by cholinergic stimulation. Additionally, arrhythmia wave fronts and rotors in RVOT are relatively more organized in the endocardium compared to the epicardium.
CIRCULATION-ARRHYTHMIA AND ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Auriane C. Ernault, Arie O. Verkerk, Jason D. Bayer, Kedar Aras, Pablo Montanes-Agudo, Rajiv A. Mohan, Marieke Veldkamp, Mathilde R. Rivaud, Rosan de Winter, Makiri Kawasaki, Shirley C. M. van Amersfoorth, Eva R. Meulendijks, Antoine H. G. Driessen, Igor R. Efimov, Joris R. de Groot, Ruben Coronel
Summary: The accumulation of epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) is associated with cardiac arrhythmias, and the secretome of EATs has effects on cardiac electrophysiology. In this study, it was found that incubation with EATs decreases the expression of the potassium channel subunit Kcnj2 and the inward rectifier K+ current I-K1 in cardiomyocytes, leading to depolarization of the resting membrane potential. EATs also decrease the expression of connexin43 and alter electrical cell-cell coupling.
Correction
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Xiaowei Zhao, Ohad Ziv, Reza Mohammadpour, Benjamin Crosby, Walter J. Hoyt, Michael W. Jenkins, Christopher Snyder, Christine Hendon, Kenneth R. Laurita, Andrew M. Rollins
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Rose T. Yin, Sheena W. Chen, K. Benjamin Lee, Yeon Sik Choi, Jahyun Koo, Quansan Yang, Michael A. Napolitano, Jokubas Ausra, Timothy J. Holleran, Jessica B. Lapiano, E. Alex Waters, Anlil Brikha, Grant Kowalik, Alana N. Miniovich, Helen S. Knight, Bender A. Russo, Alexi Kiss, Alejandro Murillo-Berlioz, Tatiana Efimova, Chad R. Haney, Philipp Gutruf, John A. Rogers, Gregory D. Trachiotis, Igor R. Efimov
Summary: Genetic engineering and implantable bioelectronics have revolutionized the study of cardiovascular physiology and diseases. However, combining these two approaches in the same species has been challenging. Researchers have recently developed miniature cardiac bioelectronic devices suitable for mice and rats, enabling the integration of molecular tools and implantable devices. The successful implementation of these devices requires reliable microsurgery techniques that minimize disruption to native physiology.
Article
Physiology
Girish S. Ramlugun, Kanchan Kulkarni, Nestor Pallares-Lupon, Bastiaan J. Boukens, Igor R. Efimov, Edward J. Vigmond, Olivier Bernus, Richard D. Walton
Summary: This study establishes an automated activation time-based analytical framework for optical mapping images of complex electrical behavior. The framework is able to accurately process high pacing frequency or irregular activity signals and provide detailed quantitative assessment and visualization.
FRONTIERS IN PHYSIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Physiology
Anna Gams, Alejandro Nevarez, Stephanie Perkail, Aileen Venegas, Sharon A. George, Tatiana Efimova, Igor R. Efimov
Summary: Abnormal heart rate variability (HRV) is commonly observed in cancer patients, but the sex-specific effects of cancer on cardiac function remain underexplored. This study investigated the sex-specific effects of pancreatic and liver cancers on cardiac function in transgenic mouse models. The results showed that female cancer mice had higher HRV, while male cancer mice showed increased HRV only in the liver cancer group. Female cancer mice also had lower median HR and higher HRV. These findings highlight the importance of considering sex when using HRV as a cancer biomarker.
PHYSIOLOGICAL REPORTS
(2023)
Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Sharon A. George, Alexi Kiss, Katy Anne Trampel, Sofian N. Obaid, Lichao Tang, Igor R. Efimov, Tatiana Efimova
Summary: This study reveals the sex- and isoform-specific roles of p38 MAPKs in DOX-induced cardiac injury. Global p38 beta deletion aggravated DIC and worsened cardiac function deterioration, while cardiomyocyte-specific p38 alpha deletion improved survival of male mice. These findings have important implications for understanding and treating DIC.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY-HEART AND CIRCULATORY PHYSIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Sharon A. George, Jaclyn A. Brennan-McLean, Katy A. Trampel, Eric Rytkin, N. Rokhaya Faye, Bjorn C. Knollmann, Igor R. Efimov
Summary: The study investigated the antiarrhythmic potential of dantrolene, a RyR inhibitor, in human hearts. Results showed that dantrolene treatment reduced premature ventricular contractions (PVC) and reversed arrhythmogenic substrates in the heart, suggesting it could be a novel therapy for patients with structural heart diseases.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY-HEART AND CIRCULATORY PHYSIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Diego M. Song Cho, Manuel J. Jerome, Christine P. Hendon
Summary: This paper presents a novel compressed sensing algorithm, DN-PC, for OCT volume reconstruction of human breast tissue. The DN-PC algorithm is rewritten to enable computational parallelization and efficient memory transfer, resulting in a significant reduction in computation time. The study compresses image volumes at decreasing A-line sampling rates to evaluate the relationship between reconstruction behavior and image features of breast tissue.
BIOMEDICAL OPTICS EXPRESS
(2023)
